Trek to Thailand--Day One (+ one?)

OK, so I completely missed March 1--time traveled right through it. We left Albert Lea at 5 am on Feb. 28 and landed in Bangkok at 1:30 a.m.on March 2. So March 1? Well, we probably passed it by on the 13 hour flight Seattle-Shanghai.

With Delta “comfort” seats, the long journey across the Pacific was more bearable, due to great legroom. But the derrière--well, let’s just say I had to toss and turn to be comfy. Watched The Accountant and Florence Foster Jenkins. Enjoyed both, but I did dose a bit.

Then came the transfer in Shanghai. Oh my. Never have I had to go through customs/immigration in a country where I simply change planes. But...China’s different. They seem to be more "control freakish" than I am--we stood in line with detailed “immigration” papers, even though our transfer simply required us to find another gate. Those 45 minutes were filled with sour-looking officials barking directions, but we finally passed muster and went on to claim our luggage, bring it to another counter to be re-checked and tagged, then gave up our “immigration” papers to “leave” the country, and finally, finally got to our destination, Gate 212. All this jockeying around took nearly 2 hours, and we got to the gate 15 minutes before being bussed to our plane waiting in the middle of the tarmac. Needlesstosay, we’d had enough of China.

The flight to Bangkok was on China Eastern airlines--an affiliate of Delta. The 4 hour flight, which took off an hour late at 10 pm, seemed to last forever. I noticed from my window seat that most major roads were lit throughout--not just at interchanges like our freeways. Interesting to observe all the criss-crossing of lights below during the flight.

Landing in Bangkok, I felt instantly welcomed--not by specific people, but by the soft music we heard, the orchids in pots we saw lining the concourses, and the “laid back,” relaxed feeling that somehow the 2:30-in-the-morning airport emanated. Such a nice change from Shanghai.

In Bangkok, going through immigration and customs was not cumbersome, and exiting the airport, we found a taxi van with little issue. They have a logical, quick way of providing taxi service: you push a button on an outside kiosk at a central location and voila! you get a number of the parking bay across from you where the taxis are lined up. You walk over to the numbered bay found on your ticket, hand over your bags, explain your destination, and you’re off--quick, easy, sensible. My kind of operation.

The trip from the airport to the hotel was pretty speedy--given the hour (little traffic) and our 800 Baht trip translated to about $23. Not bad.

So finally...we entered our Hotel Muse in Bangkok, Thailand. After confirming our information and getting our keys, we were disappointed to find the rooftop bar had closed, but...there’s all the others while we’re here.

To say this is a classy place is an understatement. Even at the odd arrival hour (after 3 am) we were greeted at registration with a choice of four small glasses filled with Limoncello sprinkled with thyme, vodka, and thentwo juices. Very tasty. Then off to our rooms.

My favorite was the Limoncello with thyme on the far right.

I snagged a king-sized bed, a TV that magically rose up from the console after pushing a button, and a bathroom that glistened with black granite. Not bad. I knew a few hours sleep would be better for acclimating than sleeping long hours, so I'm hoping to awaken around 7. Just a few hours to take care of the travel headache, perhaps.